Growing up can be fun… but hard on mum!

Over the weekend baby and I got sick, boo! Now we’re getting back on track and I’m starting out a little behind my own deadline. Oh well, right?

Let’s dive right in!

He has two front teeth!!! My big boy 🙂 Can you see them poking up from the bottom gum? They’re much higher now, we’ve added brushing teeth to his nightly routine!

I just LOVE this picture! That crazy, happy face, his hair all swoopy, total cutie!

Getting ready to go out on a play date!

Elijah is 8 months and 4 days old! From the last few weeks of his 7th month, he really took off with crawling, sprouting a second tooth, and eating solid foods more enjoyably.

Now he can:

Pull himself to stand on anything within reach and a little beyond.

He has tried several times just letting go and stepping towards another object, only to fall flat on his belly, at least he’s learned to catch himself with his hands instead of his face! Yea, it’s sad, but we all had to learn the same way.

FINALLY! We have ended co-sleeping. I really enjoyed it through the end of March, all through April, and some of May. As May wore on and E grew bigger and bigger, both of us had less room, he became super active in sleep, and it seemed he really wanted his own space too. However, he still resisted his own bed. From this past Thursday through the weekend, we finally got him acclimated to his own room. We still have to go in and pop the paci back in his mouth a few times a night, but it seems he gets more quantity and quality rest on his own, and we do too!

He also enjoys feeding himself with a mesh feeder. We do strait bananas, or bananas and blueberries, or blueberries and cantaloupe, or blueberries, bananas and cantaloupe, or prunes. It’s perfect because we sit him down in his walker, give him the feeder and he just runs around the house happy as a little boy can be. Speaking of running, this kid is fast! I’m amazed at his speed with crawling and sometimes running in the walker.

All these skills my baby now has, the little independence he’s gained, seeing how tall he is, how much his feet have grown, how his face has changed… it’s not easy for me. I’m excited sure, I really love how he can say “Mama” then come find me, I love that he understands “come here,” then comes when he is called; but he’s not my little newborn, or early infant anymore. He’s on the fast track to being a big boy. I miss his little baby self, while still celebrating his new talents. He’s having a ball though, which is great!

Now that he’s older, we can really see which features he got from which parents. He definitely added his own special, I think much cuter, twist, but it’s nice to see some resemblances too. Top to bottom, my curls, of course; but his dad’s hair color and growth pattern (i.e. the calic in the back!) The shape of my eyes, but the color of his dad’s eyes. No question about it, his father’s eyebrows. My nose, my dimples, his father’s cheeks and chin, my tall and slender trait. My ears, my fingers and toes, my back dimples, his father’s bum (sorry to out you Papa!)

What about the mama? I’m still 5 lbs. from by pre-prego weight, but that’s cool. Some of the non-maternity clothes I bought while prego to get me through to the end and hopefully wear post-pardom, are now ridiculously big. I’m definitely busier around the house now that I make more meals for us from scratch again, including breads, plus baby foods. I don’t produce as much milk any more since baby eats more solid meals. The pediatrician said my supply wouldn’t change when we had the solid foods discussion 2 months ago. It didn’t make sense to me then, and now I’ve proven him wrong, which makes sense since baby doesn’t require as much breast milk now. So that’s bittersweet. I really want to be done nursing at 12 months, just because I feel everything we want to accomplish with breastfeeding will have been accomplished by then, and it will be nice to make my body a little more exclusive to me again, at least for a while; but on the other hand, it’s just more evidence that Elijah is less of a baby and more of a little boy and that he will slowly be getting less dependent on me for everything. Life is flying right past me! In other news, I’m probably going to look for some part time work. Hopefully work I can do from home. Cross your fingers for me! Say a prayer 😉 Ok! A lot more mamma updates than usual!

Papa update? Well, he had almost exclusive care of Elijah for the last 24 hours, and had some upkeep with me while I was sick. I think he’s really getting the hang of feeding, bathing, changing, and just being with the baby. He even got to experience making a baby meal from scratch! I gave him an easy one, applesauce! It’s so funny how differently a father and mother can approach baby care… I’ll give you a hint, I’m not the one who minds a little mess on baby! I’m just glad my baby’s papa could man up to the challenge and privilege when we really needed him too!

Ya’ll have the best Monday you can, and next up… A breastfeeding exclusive! Get excited!